• Source: Bubble Houses (Litchfield Park, Arizona)

The Bubble Houses, also known as the Goodyear Balloon Houses, were four (three single and one double) bubble or airform houses designed by Wallace Neff and built at the Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park, Arizona, during the 1940s. They were demolished during the 1980s.




History


Located in a row "on the fairway of the first hole of the Wigwam's golf course" at the Wigwam Resort in Litchfield Park, Arizona, a community developed by Goodyear. and built between 1942 and 1944 by Case Construction Company of San Pedro, California, the Bubble Houses were designed by architect Wallace Neff using his patented airform Monolithic dome system, consisting of reinforced concrete cast in place over an inflatable balloon made by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Once the outer shell of concrete and insulation had hardened, the balloon was removed. The Double Bubble House consisted of two single units joined by a conventional single-story structure. Each Bubble House contained two bedrooms and one bath, a kitchen, living room, pantry with refrigerator, and patio.
All four houses, intended as "alternative wartime housing", were similar to the twelve Neff-designed bubble houses, ten doubles and two singles, previously built by Case in Falls Church, Virginia. The houses were the subject of a 1944 Architectural Record article.
Described as "ideal accommodation for golfers", rates for staying in the Bubble Houses were set at US$42 per night, for two people, during the 1958–59 season. The houses were in use as rentals or employee-housing until the 1970s. In the 1980s Goodyear sold the Wigwam project and the new owners demolished all four bubble houses.




See also


Bubble Houses (Hobe Sound, Florida)




References






Sources






External links


CaliSphere: Photos of the single bubble houses by Maynard Parker
Phyllis Richardson, Achhetcetera, Bubble Up, photos
Wigwam Resort website

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Bubble Houses (Litchfield Park, Arizona)
• Bubble Houses
• Bubble Houses (Hobe Sound, Florida)
• Monolithic dome
• Goodyear, Arizona
• Wallace Neff
• List of historic properties in Cave Creek, Arizona
• John C. Calhoun
• Perth Amboy, New Jersey
• Household income in the United States